Jun 12 Hiding Behind My Uniform

There are many things I love about nursing, but one of the main things I love about it (semi-ashamedly) is that I get to wear scrubs to work every single day.

It requires zero thinking, they go great with running shoes, and they are comfortable enough to sleep in if you literally just want to roll out of bed and go to work.

But there's something else that I feel when I put on scrubs - besides comfortable.

I feel important.

When you walk around in scrubs at a hospital, people come to you to ask a question. When I walk into my patients rooms at 7 o'clock in the morning they trust that I know what I'm doing because of my uniform and the credentials on my badge.

Even outside of work, if I happen to be wearing scrubs and someone has a medical question or God forbid finds themselves in the middle of a medical emergency, chances are they are going to come to me for help.

The same goes if you are a police officer, or fire fighter, or even when you put on your name tag or other type of uniform on when you go to work. When people come to you for service they know that you can help them because of the uniform you are wearing or because of the title you hold.

But as a believer, I have a confession.

I have been hiding behind my nursing uniform.

At work I do my best to help and care for and serve and love people because that's what I am there to do. That is what I am being paid to do. That's what you do when you put on scrubs in the morning.

But the truth is, as Christians, this is what we are called to do when we wake up every morning - in uniform or not.

As Christians, we are to wear the uniform of love, compassion, grace, and service every single day of our lives with every single person we interact with.

Not just our patients, not just our customers, and not just with our clients.

But with every, single, person, that crosses our paths.

This weekend I participated in a local mission trip in Dallas, TX with a ministry called Unashamed. One of our activities on Saturday consisted of just going up and talking to people, showing them that we cared, and telling them about Jesus.

And to be honest, it was the activity I dreaded the most.

The very thing I do for work - show up, care for, and talk to strangers - was the one thing I dreaded doing for Jesus.

I feared rejection. I feared awkwardness. I feared not knowing what to say. (Contrary to what one might think after reading this blog, I actually do struggle with words quite frequently).

And to be honest, I still fear those things.

But here's what I learned:

It's only awkward if you make it awkward.

Conversation isn't as hard as we make it out to be.

No worldly rejection can hurt us if you have eternal acceptance.

Every conversation doesn't have to be about Jesus in order to show people Jesus.

Most people want to talk.

Everyone has a story, and so many are hurting.

Every one wants to know that they are loved.

I can not say I initiated the conversations that took place this weekend, but I got to witness them and to participate and I am going to continue to pray for the courage to initiate them in the future.

My question to you is, what uniform are you hiding behind? Are you just a mom? Just a nurse? Or just an accountant?

Not if you believe in who Jesus is and what He did for you.

Jesus says you are a child of God, a part of a royal priesthood, and a person on a mission to love people like He did, live like He did, and call as many people back to Him as we can.

Let's put on the uniform of Christ follower, and watch His work be done.

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to all who believes - first to the Jew and then to the Gentile." Romans 1:16

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In a conversation with my roommates the other day, I compared walking through this life with walking through a minefield...

There would be some seasons of life where we would be walking in between the buried land mines, but we were bound to step on a few along the way.

That was my life advice for our conversation that we were having about all the many changes that life brings and all the hard things we seem to have to go through to learn and grow.

To which my roommate so lovingly and semi-sarcastically responded, "Wow, Anna. That was really helpful."

lol.

If you know me well, you know that I can tend to take a slightly critical view on things. I'd like to say I am a realist, but I also know I can lean towards the overly critical.

So the sarcastic admonishment from my friend was well deserved.

And while it has been said before - and with great truth - that we are either preparing for a storm, walking through one, or coming out of one, we as Christians can not use these phrases as an excuse to have a negative view on this life we've been given.

Growing up in the Arizona desert, rain can come to feel like just as exciting of a phenomenon as snow on Christmas Day.

Things aren't much different here in Texas.

When it rain we immediately have to drive 10mph on roads where the normal speed limit is 65mph. We take videos, don't leave our houses, and will use it as an excuse to not go to the grocery store, run errands, or skip church.

You think I'm kidding...

Nevertheless rain is not something we can go without. Not even in Texas or Arizona.